


The Janitorial Closet

by thelotusflower



Category: South Park
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Angst with a Happy Ending, Assumed Relationship, Emotional Roller Coaster, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, the bg cryle is v small
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:34:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29962356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelotusflower/pseuds/thelotusflower
Summary: After taking his roommate to his facility parter, and his coworkers mistaking his roommate as hispartner, Stan is forced to address his feelings.
Relationships: (back ground), Kyle Broflovski/Craig Tucker, Stan Marsh/Kenny McCormick
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13
Collections: JBK and Lotus’s Assumed Dating Prompts





	The Janitorial Closet

**Author's Note:**

> based on this prompt: “I talk about you so much that when I introduced you to my coworkers, they mention how excited they are to finally meet my partner“ from foundyourheart.tumblr.com 
> 
> hope you enjoy:)

He blamed Kyle.

He ditched him, and if he was  _ here _ , this never would have happened.

It was the annual, end-of-the-facility party. Kyle usually attended with him, but this year he was busy which led to him asking Kenny.

He honestly thought he would say no. The facility party was  _ lame  _ and Stan was not quiet with his disdain toward it. Stan voiced his complaints every year; dreading the weeks before and spending the night, thereafter, dissing his coworkers.

Every year, after the party, Kenny would listen to the horrific details of the night; joint in one hand and eyes sparkling gold. He would pitch in, occasionally even, familiar with the teachers that Stan would often complain about on a daily basis. He was sure that — even though Kyle had  _ met _ his coworkers several times — Kenny probably was more familiar with them. They lived together, after all, and spent most of their weekdays complaining about work.

Sometimes he wished he just taught in South Park, instead of taking a job in some more prestigious and pompous city, fifteen miles outside of town. Sure, the people of South Park were absurd, but at least he was used to them. He had been at this stupid school five years now and he still felt like an outcast — forced into going to this facility party to atone to the political system of a goddamn middle school.

He huffed out a breath, staring at the janitorial closet in front of him. He opened his text sent to his best friend, and stared at the lack of the response. 

While on his phone, he received a text from another friend — it being the fifth text in a row.

_ Dude, Stan, where the f r u _

Stan bit his lip. He felt bad for leaving Kenny alone in the middle of his facility party but he was way too mortified to step outside the closet. He couldn't believe he was stuck in the closet, again. Albeit this time,  _ literally _ , instead of  _ figuratively  _ but still. 

He was such a fucking coward.

It was fucking Kyle’s fault.

In a fit of desperation, he called the person he knew he was with — the  _ reason _ he abandoned him. He scrolled through his contacts, landing on the letter  _ c  _ with a scowl.

To his surprise, the person actually picked up on the fourth ring. “Why are you calling me?”

“Kyle isn’t answering his phone, and I need to talk to him,”

“Why am I not allowed to have my boyfriend for  _ one  _ night?”

“Craig, don’t be an asshole. Just put him on.”

“ _ Fine,  _ but I swear to god, Marsh —,”

“Chill out, I’ll leave him alone for the rest of the night. Just let me talk to him.”

Stan’s leg shook ruthlessly as he listened to the rustling sound come from the other end; voices being carried around wildly. He let out a breath as he waited, staring again at the back of the janitorial closet.

As he heard someone come to the other end of the phone, he quickly sat up, “Kyle? Where the fuck have you been?”

“Dude, I told you, it’s Craig’s grandma’s 100th birthday party.”

“And what? You’re not allowed to be on your phone?”

“I’ve been busy! He has a lot of family members, and I’m not trying to look like a bad partner,”

“Well, I’m freaking the  _ fuck  _ out.”

“Why?”

“You haven’t read my  _ texts? _ ”

“I’ve told you — I’ve been busy. I haven’t been on my phone. How big of an emergency can it be? You’re at your prestige, middle school facility party,”

“I told Kenny I was in love with him - !”

“ _ Oh,” _

It was a mistake.

He didn’t mean to. If he  _ had  _ meant to, he definitely wouldn’t have done it at his end of the year facility party. It was probably the  _ least  _ romantic spot in the world to confess your feelings.

In fact, he was not planning to do it at  _ all.  _ Because Kenny didn’t feel the same way, he was sure. 

They were roommates, which meant he witnessed the trail of young men and women in and out of Kenny’s bedroom on a daily basis. It also didn’t help that the people who came in and out of his room were fucking  _ hot  _ — every last one of them. Much hotter than Stan was.

“Yeah, fucking,  _ oh,  _ dude. I’m freaking the fuck out.”

“Well, what did he say? How did you tell him?”

Stan thought back.

When they first arrived, they actually started off with a good time. Stan and Kenny hovered near the PE teacher, who Stan considered his closest friend there, and they conversed. They were laughing; having a good time, until a couple of the other teachers came up to them.

At first, it was fine. They got along, discussing the students and the excitement of summer vacation. It didn’t go south until the couple of teachers began to exclaim how _ happy  _ they were to finally meet his  _ partner _ .

Stan quickly corrected them, explaining that Kenny was just his roommate. The teachers then made it  _ worse  _ by saying, “oh, we just  _ assumed  _ with how much, and the  _ way,  _ he talks about you— it’s okay, we aren’t homophobes around here,” 

Stan did his best to shut them up, but he they just kept  _ going _ .

“What about those sticky notes?” One of them had asked. “You always look so happy opening those— who are those from?”

In which  _ Kenny  _ rose his hand and said,  _ “guilty! _ ”

The women cooed over him at that, and Stan was so embarrassed and red he had to run away. Kenny was quick to follow him, excusing himself from the group of teachers to follow Stan.

Kenny grabbed his arm in an attempt to guide him to look at him. As Stan turned, he saw the smile across Kenny’s face and it made his heart fall into his stomach. “Dude — what’s up? You okay?”

Stan shook his head, swallowing. “I need some air.”

He charged out of the school with weighted steps and heavy breaths. He felt like his heart was going to explode. He felt completely  _ caught;  _ absolutely  _ red-handed.  _

He didn’t know Kenny had followed him until he was already outside. He still wore that smile; that smile that he had so easily fallen in love with and so long ago.

“Stan, yo, dude, what is  _ wrong?  _ I know you hate these things but I don’t think it’s going that bad. So, you talk about me a lot — I think it’s sweet, ya know? I didn’t think I was all that interesting. You made me into a little house gay, and ya know, I’m totally fine with that.”

Stan huffed and was unable to look at him. Instead he shook his head, “Kenny, just drop it. Please.”

“Not until you tell me what’s got your panties in a twist — you can blabber on about me to your coworkers but you can’t speak to me directly? What gives?”

Stan bowed his head down, locking his eyes to the concrete below his feet. He bit his bottom lip. “There’s nothing to _say_ _—_ I’m fine, Kenny.”

“You’re not fine, dude,” Kenny argued, placing a hand over his arm. Stan met his eyes, sucking in a heavy breath. “Is this really all about what your crazy coworkers said? I can’t see why you would care so much about what they think,”

“It’s not about what they  _ think!  _ It’s about what I want, and I want — I want you to be what they think you are, Kenny,” Stan confessed, “I’m in love with you.”

In response, Kenny just stared, mouth opening, but no words coming out. The silence was unbearable. Stan had to get out of there which led to his hideout in the janitorial closet.

He explained to Kyle in more or less words, doing his best to not ramble — as he had been accused of doing before with stories.

When he finished, Kyle sucked in a breath. “So he just didn’t say anything, and you left?”

“Yeah, dude — he was just, like, staring. It was traumatizing,”

“And he hasn’t tried to call you at all?”

“Yeah, but I’ve been ignoring him, and his texts. What is the point? He is just going to reject me, and tell me to fuck off.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I absolutely know that, Kyle. There is a reason I haven’t told him,”

“Because you’re a chicken-shit pussy?”

“Fuck you. I am not,”

“You’re hiding in a janitorial closet,”

Stan sighed, pulling a hand across his face. “Why did I even call you?”

Kyle sighed through the phone. “Just give him a chance, Stan. He might surprise you.”

Stan swallowed, feeling his heart sink into his stomach. He looked down, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. “Yeah, I doubt it.”

“Stan,” Kyle sighed. “Look, I gotta go. Don’t do anything stupid,”

“Too late for that,”

“It’ll be fine, Stan. I’ll talk to you later.”

With that, the call ended, and Stan sighed, staring at the summary of the call. When he saw another text notification from Kenny, he decided to shut off his phone. 

In total frustration and dread, he bowed his head down into his hands, and groaned. He knew he could not stay in here forever, but the thought of leaving sent him into an eternal dread.

He had dealt with these feelings for  _ years _ . He was ready to take them to the grave; knowing they would never be reciprocated, but then, he had to run his fucking mouth.

After about another ten minutes of feeling sorry for himself, he heard a knock at the door. He furrowed his eyebrows and looked up. Who the fuck  _ knocked  _ on a janitorial closest door?

He sat, silent, feeling a rush of embarrassment wash over him.  _ Who hid in a janitorial closet? _

As the door opened, he braced himself for eternal shame, and a poor excuse for why he would be hiding in a janitorial closet to begin with. Although, when he opened his mouth to give a pathetic excuse _ ,  _ he saw who it was on the other side of the door.

Kenny.

His mouth fell open as he stared at the other man. His blonde hair was flush against his forehead and that previous crooked smile gone. Stan swallowed.

“Can I come in?”

Stan wanted to say  _ no,  _ but what was the point? He could only hide for so long. They lived together, after all. 

Instead of responding, he just gave a weak nod. Kenny proceeded to step inside, and turned on the light. “You were sittin’ in the dark?”

Stan huffed out a breath. “Made it easier to pretend I don’t exist.”

Kenny didn’t acknowledge what he said, and instead gestured for him to scoot over on the bench so Kenny could sit beside him. Stan did the best he could to make room in the cramped space, but when Kenny sat next to him, they were still flush against one another.

He kept his gaze to the floor, his elbows on his knees and hands clasped together, in prayer that they could still manage to be friends after this. 

“How did you find me?” Stan managed to ask.

“Kyle.”

Stan shook his head _. “Shit head _ .”

“Hmm,” Kenny hummed. “Funny. He said the same about you… I actually agreed with him.”

Stan clenched his jaw. Maybe he was being a little bit of a shit head, but how could his best friend out him like this? After knowing that he was going through such a crisis?

“You wanna talk about this?”

Stan opened his mouth, clasping his hands together tighter. “Not really. I would actually like to pretend it never happened.”

There was a pause.

“You really love me?”

Stan chewed on the inside of his cheek. Was there a point to lie? The least he could do was own up to it — prove he was not the  _ biggest  _ coward in the world. 

“Yeah,” he said, focusing on the dirty mop heads in the corner of the closet because he was still too cowardly to look at him. He slacked his jaw and added, “I really do.”

More silence followed.

“Why?”

Stan perked up an eyebrow at the question. There were plenty of reasons, but also no reason at all. The heart wanted it what it wanted, and his heart wanted Kenny. He was so used to loving him, that it was almost second-nature to him at this point — it was just a part of him. He was sure he would never stop.

“The post-it notes, for one thing — the fact that you make me lunch, sometimes, even though you just got off a twelve and half hour shift at Hell's Pass…” he spoke mindlessly, letting his brain speak the words he had hid multiple times in his diary. “That you let Karen live with us for  _ years  _ — that you put your whole life on hold to take care of her. The fact that you put  _ everyone  _ you care about over yourself… the commentary you make during movies…. And the way you put skittles in your popcorn.”

Stan swallowed the lump in his throat.

The words came rushing out like a waterfall.

“Your  _ smile _ … the missing tooth you got from that fight in middle school… the way you’re a leader when you need to be, without even trying… you’re so fucking awesome, dude, and you don’t even  _ acknowledge  _ it. You are just  _ good.  _ You do things because you’re a good fucking person, not because you want people to think you are.”

His words finally stopped, leaving Stan in a cage of silence and dread. He was sure that the silence would be better than whatever Kenny would have to say.

“Woah…. that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said about me.”

Stan swallowed. Somewhere in the pit of his gut, he found the courage to look up at him, and the tender smile which swerved across his lips.

“Stan, you’re really awesome too… you’re one of my most favorite people… and if I ever lost you, that would completely devastate me, ya know? I love you. I really do, and I could see this … going somewhere, for sure, but when I think about the other possible direction where it could go — where we end up hatin each other, like relationships often go, like our parents, it makes me scared. It makes me more scared than anything else in the world. Cuz’ I can’t lose you, Stan. You mean the world to me, and I put that above all else,”

Stan blinked, swallowing the lump in his throat. He searched the other’s features; his beautiful and perfect features that would be forever sketched in his mind. He saw fear in his eyes; worry furrowed in his brow and sadness in his frown.

“Nothing could  _ ever  _ divide us, Kenny… I could never  _ hate  _ you. I could never  _ not  _ have you in my life,” he confessed, feeling his eyes swell. “It would devastate me too…. But not all relationships end up broken, and we would never let it get it to the point where we couldn’t still be friends,”

For the first time in his life, he took a risk when it came to love, and grabbed the other’s hand in his. Kenny stared at him; shock in his eyes and possible contemplation. “I love you Ken, more than I have loved anyone, and if there is a least bit chance that you feel the same way...”

Kenny took in a large breath, searching the other’s face up and down with teary eyes. “I do, Stan,” he said, breaking into a tender smile, pressing his palm to the side of his face.

“Then, let’s give it a try… see where it can go… There is nothing that could ever come between us.”

“Okay,” Kenny nodded, “yeah… yeah, let’s try it…,” he breathed out, eyes searching again. “I want to try this, with you,” Kenny rubbed his thumb against his cheek, eyes flickering to his lips.

Before Stan could fully register the words, Kenny’s lips were against his own. His heart exploded with joy at the contact; at the future that would be theirs to come.

Now that he had Kenny, he would never let him go. He would be the best partner anyone could possibly be, and he would make sure that their love prevailed.


End file.
